According to TheBaseballCube.com, only one player in baseball history who was born in Missoula, the third-largest city in Montana, went on to play in the big leagues.

Sopko is trying to be the second, and the first from his high school in Missoula, Loyola-Sacred Heart.

“I pitched in my share of snow,” said Sopko. “It’s just what you do. I didn’t know any better.”

He’s from Loyola-Sacred Heart High School, but he only played basketball at the school, because baseball is not a sanctioned high school sport in Montana. Sopko played American Legion baseball.

An area where the ski season often overlaps deep into baseball season might have held back some would-be pro baseball prospects, but not Sopko.

He was drafted in the 14th round by the San Diego Padres out of high school in 2012, but chose not to sign.

“I was only 17,” he said. “I would’ve had to go away from home to Arizona. I wasn’t ready. I wanted to go to college.”

He did go away from home, but instead went to Gonzaga in eastern Washington, where again weather could be a hindrance to baseball development. It’s also a school that’s had 20 players reach the Major Leagues in its history, but none currently.

“We’d spend the first few months of the season inside or on the road,” he said. “But I made some great friends there. I’m glad I went there.”

Again, Sopko had no issues attracting scouts, or at least the right scouts.

The Dodgers drafted the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Sopko in the seventh round of 2015, and this time he signed.

Like other players who sign their first pro contract, Sopko spent some of his money on a new car, but he didn’t go as frivolous as many others might have with a $147,500 bonus: he bought a Toyota Camry.

“I wanted something dependable,” he said.

And where was the first place the Dodgers sent him? Ogden, Utah, in the rookie-level Pioneer League where there are four teams that are based in Montana, including one in Missoula.

“Luckily, we were in Missoula a week before I joined the team,” he said.

Luckily?

“There would’ve been too many people who wanted to come,” he said.

His family did get to see him pitch in Billings, Montana. It just happened to be his last appearance for Ogden and likely his only appearance as a pro in his home state. It was also his first start, an outstanding one: allowing just one hit, no runs while striking out eight in four innings. He finished his time with Ogden with a 2.57 ERA, striking out 18 in 14 innings.

From there he spent the rest of the season with low Single-A Great Lakes, where he went 3-1 with a 2.74 ERA in five starts, and made another start in the playoffs.

His solid pro start wasn’t quite enough to get him ranked among the Dodgers’ Top 30 prospects by Baseball America entering the 2016 season, but BA did refer to Sopko as “the most polished player the Dodgers took” in the 2015 draft.

He made one start at Great Lakes to start 2016, but has since been with Rancho Cucamonga, where he has excelled, earning a spot on the mid-season California League squad that played against the Carolina League.

Entering Friday, he was 9-2 with a 3.40 ERA, striking out 86 in 87 1/3 innings. He’s done so with four solid pitches and he’s working on a fifth.

“I feel pretty comfortable throwing all four,” he said.

So beyond the four-seam fastball, a curveball, slider and changeup, he’s working on a fifth pitch that’s somewhat of a work in progress: a two-seam fastball.

His statistics are good, but he’s not focusing on that.

“I know how hard it is to pitch in this league,” he said.

Friday was scheduled to be Sopko’s 12th start on the road, while strangely he’s had only five home starts. But he’s pitched well both home and road, with almost identical ERAs.

There is a stat he does look at: walks

“If I’ve walked three batters in a game, I think it’s too many,” he said.

Sopko turns 22 next month and it would surprise no one if he ended up at Double-A Tulsa before too long, another step closer to the big leagues.

“I want to be able to go back to Montana after making it (in the big leagues) and tell the kids they can do it,” Sopko said.

Pete Marshall started his career as a freelancer for The Sun in 1991, then later was hired full time by the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in 1995. Since then he has covered a variety of sports for the Daily Bulletin and The Sun, primarily high school sports and minor league baseball. He's been doing it long enough that he's now covering the children of student-athletes he covered when he first started.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.